Exploring automotive nostalgia, this episode dives into the theme of hand-me-down cars with guest Crystal Profit, who shares her humorous experiences with her first vehicle—a doo-doo brown plumbing truck from her dad. The hosts discuss the significance of family vehicles and how they shape memories, while also highlighting the practicality of modern cars like the Honda Odyssey. Crystal's insights on podcasting and content creation add depth to the conversation, making it relatable for both car enthusiasts and casual listeners alike.
Krystal Proffitt's first car was a hand-me-down truck from her dad. It was brown—"Doo-Doo Brown," to be exact—and it advertised his business on the sides.
Try being a teenager when your vehicle is literally a mobile advertisement for your father's company. Every time you drive anywhere, you're representing the family business whether you want to or not. Every parking lot becomes a potential networking opportunity. Every bad parking job reflects on dad's brand.
Most first car stories are about freedom. This one's about responsibility, family, and learning to make a vehicle your own when it's very publicly not.
In this episode, Krystal shares: - Why her dad chose *that* particular shade of brown (it wasn't random) - What it's really like driving a rolling billboard as a teenager - The moment she realized the truck was teaching her about business and branding - How she made the truck "hers" despite the business signage - The reactions she got in parking lots—both good and awkward - What happened when someone called the business number to complain about her driving - How that hand-me-down truck influenced her approach to content strategy and branding today
There's one story about the truck breaking down in the worst possible place that Krystal says taught her more about reputation management than any marketing class ever could.
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"I did own an RX-7. The shirt is actually for the last generation, which I did not own, the FD, which everybody loves."
The Mazda RX-7 is a sports car famous for its unique rotary engine, which is different from traditional engines. The FD is the last version of this model and is loved for its speed and style.
The Mazda RX-7 is a lightweight sports car known for its rotary engine and agile handling. The FD generation, produced from 1992 to 2002, is particularly celebrated for its performance and design, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts.
"...e, just a little preamble and we'll mention it as prologue too. If you're listening to this podcast and you ..."
The Honda Prologue is a new electric SUV that Honda is planning to release. It's important because it shows that Honda is moving towards making cars that are better for the environment and use electricity instead of gasoline.
The Honda Prologue is an upcoming all-electric SUV that represents Honda's commitment to electrification and sustainable mobility. It is significant as it marks Honda's entry into the electric vehicle market, aiming to compete with other electric SUVs.
"...I've had a few Hondas, a few Hondas in my day. I still have a beat up old Acura in the park in the..."
Acura is a brand of cars that is part of Honda, and it makes more luxurious and high-end vehicles. They are known for being reliable and comfortable to drive.
Acura is the luxury vehicle division of Honda, known for producing reliable and well-equipped cars. Models like the Acura TL and MDX are popular for their performance and comfort.
"...my middle brother had inherited the next truck. It was an F350"
The Ford F-350 is a strong truck made for heavy work, like towing trailers or carrying heavy loads. It's built to handle tough jobs better than regular trucks.
The Ford F-350 is a heavy-duty pickup truck known for its towing capacity and durability. It's part of Ford's Super Duty lineup, which is designed for more demanding tasks than standard pickup trucks.
"...obsessed with these monster trucks, which for gas mileage purposes, made no sense..."
Gas mileage tells you how far a car can go on a gallon of gas. Higher numbers mean the car is more efficient and will cost less to drive.
Gas mileage refers to the distance a vehicle can travel on a certain amount of fuel, typically measured in miles per gallon (MPG). It's an important factor for consumers considering fuel costs and environmental impact.
"...s funny. We're, you know, think about things that spark memories. This is a recent one, but I was at a mo..."
The Chevrolet Spark is a small car that's easy to drive and park, especially in busy city areas. It's known for being affordable and good on gas, which makes it a great option for people who want a simple, budget-friendly vehicle.
The Chevrolet Spark is a subcompact car designed for urban driving, offering a small footprint and excellent fuel efficiency. It's often discussed for its affordability and practicality, making it a popular choice for first-time car buyers.
"...when I get into, you know, a sedan, you're down here and then an SUV, you're here..."
An SUV is a type of vehicle that is bigger than a car, usually with more space inside for passengers and cargo, and it's often used for driving on rougher roads.
An SUV, or Sport Utility Vehicle, is a larger vehicle designed for passenger comfort and off-road capability, often featuring higher ground clearance and more cargo space than sedans.
"...you're in one of these F 150, 250, 350s. It's another thing..."
The F-150 is a big truck made by Ford that many people use for work or towing things because it's very strong and reliable.
The Ford F-150 is a popular full-size pickup truck known for its durability, versatility, and strong towing capabilities, making it a favorite for both work and recreation.
"...I had a friend that had an Eclipse. I mean, I had somebody, I had a friend that had an eclipse. I mean, I don't remember what year that was..."
The Eclipse is a sporty car made by Mitsubishi that was popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, often known for its two-door design.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse is a compact car that was produced by Mitsubishi Motors, known for its sporty design and performance, particularly in the 1990s and early 2000s.
"...my previous one, the do do brown one, the very first one, didn't even have a tape deck. So I couldn't at that point in the 90s and early 2000s..."
A tape deck is a part of a car's audio system that plays music from cassette tapes. It was very popular before CDs and digital music became common.
A tape deck is a device used to play audio cassettes. In the context of cars, it was a common feature in vehicles during the 1980s and 1990s, allowing drivers to listen to music from cassette tapes.
"...the cool thing was, you put the tape in that connected to your CD player, external high tech. Yeah. And you put it in there."
A CD player is a part of a car's sound system that plays music from CDs. It was a popular way to listen to music in cars before digital music became common.
A CD player is a device that plays compact discs, which became the standard for music playback in cars during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It allowed for better sound quality and convenience compared to cassette tapes.
"...I got a CD player and a subwoofer. Nice. Now, just looking back..."
A subwoofer is a type of speaker that makes the deep sounds in music, like bass. It helps make the music sound better in your car.
A subwoofer is a specialized speaker designed to reproduce low-frequency sounds, enhancing the audio experience in a vehicle. It is often used in car audio systems to provide deep bass.
"...I remember in my Buick Skyhawk in high school, I have not thought about this in so long..."
The Buick Skyhawk is a small car made by Buick, a division of General Motors. It was popular in the 1980s and had a sporty look, making it a fun choice for young drivers.
The Buick Skyhawk was a compact car produced by Buick from 1975 to 1989. It was known for its sporty design and was part of the GM X-body platform, which included other models like the Chevrolet Citation and Pontiac Phoenix.
"...ut the Swiss army knife of automobiles, the Honda Odyssey dog? Or did we need to inject something else in h..."
The Honda Odyssey is a type of family car called a minivan that has a lot of room inside for passengers and cargo. It's great for families because it has comfortable seats and many features that make traveling easier.
The Honda Odyssey is a versatile minivan known for its spacious interior and family-friendly features. It has been a popular choice for families due to its practicality, comfort, and advanced safety technologies.
"...has just been the best vehicle for road trips. Because we drive we live in Houston, but we have family in the Dallas Fort Worth area..."
Road trips are long drives you take in a car, usually to visit places that are far away, and you want to be comfortable during the journey.
Road trips refer to long-distance travel by car, often involving multiple stops and extended time on the road, making comfort and space in the vehicle important.
"...we have been looking at Honda pilots for a while and it was a cousin of mine that got the newer,..."
The Honda Pilot is a family SUV that can carry many passengers and has a lot of space for cargo. It has changed its shape and style over the years to keep up with modern trends.
The Honda Pilot is a midsize SUV known for its spacious interior and family-friendly features. It has gone through several generations, each with distinct design changes and improvements in technology and safety features.
"...the newer, like, whenever the body, because you know, the bodies had several iterations over the last 10 years,..."
Body style iterations are the changes in how a car looks over the years. Car companies often change the design to make them look more modern or to improve features.
Body style iterations refer to the different designs and shapes that a vehicle model goes through over time. Manufacturers often update the styling to keep the model fresh and appealing to consumers.
Car
Kia minivan
"...I saw it has sliding doors. I was like, is this Akia minivan? This is gorgeous..."
The Kia minivan is a type of family car that has a lot of space inside and sliding doors, which make it easier to get in and out. It's designed for families and can carry many passengers and their belongings.
The Kia minivan likely refers to the Kia Carnival, a family-friendly vehicle known for its spacious interior and modern features. It has sliding doors, making it convenient for passengers, especially in tight spaces.
"...it's the Kia Carnival. One of my neighbors has one. And the nice thing,..."
The Kia Carnival is a family-friendly vehicle that looks more like an SUV than a typical minivan. It's designed to be practical for people with kids or those needing extra space.
The Kia Carnival is a multi-purpose vehicle that combines features of a minivan and an SUV, making it practical for families. It stands out with its design, which doesn't resemble a traditional minivan.
"...what kind of car are you going to buy? I have always loved the Porsche Cayenne's..."
The Porsche Cayenne is a high-end SUV that combines luxury and performance. It's designed for people who want a stylish and powerful vehicle that can also carry passengers and cargo.
The Porsche Cayenne is a luxury SUV known for its performance and sporty characteristics, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts who want a practical vehicle without sacrificing driving enjoyment.
"...she bought a Cayenne and I think she bought the V8 turbo. She drives like a maniac..."
A V8 turbo is a type of engine that has eight cylinders and uses a turbocharger to make it more powerful. This means the car can go faster and perform better.
A V8 turbo refers to an eight-cylinder engine configuration that is equipped with a turbocharger. This setup enhances the engine's power output and efficiency, providing a significant performance boost.
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Welcome back. You have found, again, you've found, you've re-found to all the cars I've loved
before, your authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia, where every car tells a story, and
every car has a culture. It's time to plug in dust off and get a little grease under
the nails. Oh, and slip on that favorite car-themed shirt. By the by, my co-host is looking
dapper today in his latest. Now, did you just pick up that shirt from the dry cleaners?
Is that what, is that? It's fresh. To give away a little secret, we're going to have
somebody from Mazda USA on the podcast in a few weeks. So I wanted to make sure I
had my Mazda shirt. I did, I have owned four Mazdas. I did own an RX-7. The shirt
is actually for the last generation, which I did not own, the FD, which everybody loves.
That's like one of the hero cars. That's RX-7 ever. Of course, the last RX-7 ever. And
yeah, I just wanted to get another shirt. Now, are Mazdas like a punch card where
if you buy 11, you get the 12th free or the baker's dozen or something like that?
Is that what you're doing? You said you own three or four? Four. No, they're
just great cars. Mazda. This is going to be really exciting. That's going to be a lot of,
that's our biggest, that's our, we're very excited about that. And welcome to our new
listeners. Hey, heard around the world. I don't know if I mentioned that at the top of the,
top of the, top of the intro, around the world. Yes. Past five days, we can go into our,
the analytics and the software that we use. And for the past five days, welcome to listeners
in York, Pennsylvania, Plano, Texas. I think with a few and, oh, we have multiple sites in Texas,
but internationally, London, welcome back to those listening in London. But our big one
is, okay, Pop Quiz, Big Island in the Southern Hemisphere on the other side of the world.
What do you think? Australia. Yes, Australia. Welcome to our listeners in Sydney, South,
Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria. We are just really excited about that. And so,
hey, drop us a line. I'm Christian at CarsLove.com. He's Doug at CarsLove.com. Give us a call
or give us a, sorry, call me now. Give us a, shoot us an email. Let us know what you think.
Feedback reviews. Speaking of reviews, we're getting a bunch of them on Apple podcast. Very excited
about this. And I'm going to read one right now. Please do. What do you think? Is that okay?
Yeah. Here we go. Here's one. Here's one that's not too critical of me. We're not going to read
any of those. This one says, what is happening to my phone right now? Okay. Oh, boy. If you're
a car guy, you have to listen. This is from December 4th from F Monty. Maybe that's F1.
I don't know who that is. I've always struggled to find, okay, this is the review. I've always
struggled to find the best podcast about cars. And this one hit the nail on the head. It's
engaging, funny, interesting. And I love the stories. I for sure recommend this podcast
not just for car people, period, anybody, three exclamation points. So that is, when we started
this, Doug, Doug always likes to say that the show is about family, bringing together people,
talking about kind of the daisy chain of people in cars that move through our lives.
Today, the theme of today's show is going to be hand-me-downs. And we will get into that.
But what do you think, Doug, when the review says this is for anybody? It's not just for
gear heads. We have those. We have people that restore antique cars, people who write books
about cars, people who educate the next generation how to work on cars. But it's for anybody.
You don't have to know anything about cars to have a good time here. What do you say?
I agree. And pretty much all guests, and we can put our guests on the spot when we get
to her and do the introduction. Pretty much all of our guests have said they have enjoyed
the preparation part. We have that short form that takes five minutes to fill out,
intake form. And when they're filling it out, just their mind goes back to that car, first car.
It might have been 30 years ago, in the case of your son when we had him on it,
wasn't that long ago. But there's still some smiles out there. And I like seeing that.
I also like being able to tie it back to maybe it's just a coincidence in the story that triggers
something in my head that takes me back. Yeah. Yeah. And it's interesting how we talk about,
hey, where did the first car come from? Oh, yeah. Some people just had to work their
fingers to the bones. Sometimes there were hand-me-downs. Sometimes it was grandma's car.
Sometimes it had been sitting up on blocks in the backyard. And you had to shoe away the
mice and squirrels before you even started your restoration. And so when we talk about hand-me-downs,
we're so excited about today's guest who has a lot of experience in just how hilarious speaking with
her before the show. But I'm going to hand over the baton here to Doug for the introductions.
And how did Crystal come into your world? Why is she such an appropriate guest for our show?
Yeah. So many things. And I don't know exactly how it happened. But when we were working on podcasting
or initially talking about it, Crystal's podcast, the profit podcast, popped up. And I started
listening to her pretty religiously. And it was funny. What prompted me to put us on YouTube
was actually one of Crystal's episodes about just do it, make it simple, just bite the
bullet. You don't even have to have video. And so that kind of got us going. And as soon as Crystal
announced, I think it was towards the end of last year, her podcasters connect community,
which is a, and I'll let her do the justice on it. But I hope to think I'm a very active
member in it. And Crystal gives me lots of advice. Truly amazing how much time she
devotes to everybody in there who wants help. And we have monthly calls. So with that,
I can't say enough good things about Crystal. Oh, and when I said, would you like to be on
our podcast? She's like, sure, I'm not really a car person. But I have a story or two.
It's going to be great. She's going to be great. She's here. She's waiting. Crystal,
how are you? Well, I mean, y'all do such an incredible job. Thank you so much, Doug
and Christian for having me on the show. This is going to be incredible because I did. I was like,
guys, I'm not a car person. I'm really not. And I started thinking when I was filling out the
form, you know, because as you said, you know, I'm a podcast nerd to my core and I love a
good intake form. And the way that y'all have it all laid out, I was like, Oh, there,
but there's some stories here because it is what I love. I love to tell stories in my content.
It's how you take something that could be a boring subject and really amp it up or get it to the
relatable piece of it for your listeners to enjoy. And I started thinking, I was like,
I have some really good stories about cars and they're not fancy. They're not flashy. But man,
I'm excited. So I just, I can't wait to have this conversation with you today.
Well, thank you for being here. We appreciate that. And before we get going here,
just a little preamble and we'll mention it as prologue too. If you're listening to this podcast
and you have your own podcast, this happens a lot in, in Doug is always bringing back these
wonderful nuggets from the ether. A lot of them come from crystal. A lot of them come
from this great, huge community of podcasters. Can we just pause for a second crystal
and give your, tell your presences to everyone? If they go on your YouTube channel,
what are they going to learn about? If they go on your podcast or your social media,
where would they go to learn what about you? Yeah. So you can find me everywhere. Go to
crystalprofit.com and that's where you're going to be plugged into the podcast and YouTube.
It's crystal with a K and profit has two Fs and two Ts. And yes, that is my actual last
name, but it's not a stage name. I get that question a lot. That's another story about how
when I met my husband and we, it was a whole thing. But because I was like, your name
can't really be profit. We met at business school, right? Like that was a total line.
Oh my God. That's a line that you're looking for profit.
Well, you would have spelled it right if it was actually profit, if it was intentional.
Exactly. Come on. Like I, but it was, it was, I made him show like,
can I see your ID? Cause I didn't believe him. So again, another story for another day.
But yeah, I have met so many creators over the years and I actually just met with someone today
and they said the same thing to me. And that's, I want to be the person that helps you just
keep showing up. Well, because it gets hard, right? I don't know if, you know, and I know
that the podcast is newer to you, but you come up against these hurdles, whether it's
your life gets in your way or you have to take time off because a family member's sick
or you have to do unexpected travel. And then it could just easily fall through the cracks that
your podcast or your content is a priority. And so I tried to come up with strategies that
makes it fun. Like let's, let's not be so restrictive and like
really just rigid about the rules of what you're creating. And let's just infuse fun
and create around, you know, what you're passionate about, which is what I love that
y'all are doing, because that's exactly the model that we try to do is, hey, find something
you're passionate about that you could talk about literally for hours, because what you're
going to do and enjoy it, lean into it. I like that. And Doug is our,
Doug is really, he was really the kind of the inception for the show for sure. He's also this
push and this creative force that keeps us going forward. But there's, there's this, there's this
special thing off to the side, this pleasure part of it, where we enjoy getting together.
We enjoy talking to the guests. And he said something magic where you just have to keep
at the grindstone. And when we first started, we did our first two or three. And Doug said,
you know, I was some, uh, oh, some early advice that we got before we knew you.
This fella said, you know, you got to make it to 30 by hook or crook. You got to make it to 30.
And it's two or three or four. Yeah. Right, right. Pass 30 at two or three or four.
I thought, we're never going to get there. I mean, this is, this is my best pal,
you know, with his, with his new hobby. I said, oh, I'll help him go as far as
he wants to go. I said, we'll never get to 30. Good grief. We have 30 of 40 now.
I think we've published with another, I don't know, dozen in queue that Doug has to sprinkle the
magic engineering dust on to get him out there. Yeah. Well, we also had, we also had Matt Farah
from, I think it's car and driver editor said, when you guys get to 99, when you guys get
to 99, give me a call. I'll be on your podcast. So that's our target.
That's incredible. And it's so fun. Like I love, so I love hearing y'all's story too,
because I think it's motivational for anybody that's listening just to find that passion and
just like start hanging out with your friends that love to talk about it too, because then it
doesn't feel like work. Like me doing this with y'all, like this doesn't feel like work to
me. It just feels like another fun conversation that I get to have. And it's about, again,
things that I wouldn't even normally talk about, but it's in a, it's in a situation where I know
your listeners will appreciate what we're talking about here today. And that's what I try to do in
any forum that I show up on is how can I add value to the people that are listening because
they're doing this for entertainment value or they're trying to get educated or motivated
in whatever they're doing. And I like to just sprinkle in whatever kind of magic I can and
you know, go, go on to all the different pieces of content that we can keep creating
for people that are out there. Well, we are all about the magic. Love to hear it. Thank you. And
before we, let's see, so we've talked a little bit about what you do. And I'd like to maybe
revisit your world a little bit. Instead of your stepping into our world, as we've done
for the past few minutes, when we're done talking about your cars, I would like to maybe step
in yours and talk a bit about your business, your coaching content, strategy, creating content.
I think that would be wonderful. But before we get there, fan service, let's step into the way
back machine and slide into the nearest car that'll, that'll transport us back to your dads.
Let's go to where it all started. Dad's business. Okay. Okay. So do you want me to start with
what he did for a living first? And then I think it's wonderful. Please, please. I think
it's okay. We can't get enough of these family stories. Yes, please. Yes. Yes. So my dad
actually, he started his own plumbing business. I was around 12 years old. And he was doing it all
by, you know, scrapping things together and saying, all right, like, we're going to make this
business work. He was an entrepreneur and, you know, I'm following in his footsteps and a lot of
the things that I do. But he was like, I just want to make this work. And so he was on a
tight budget. He was working with, you know, as many other contractors or builders in the area
that he could get advice from or get free supplies from, or he could just have like, you know,
any kind of partnerships around our community. I grew up in Athens, Texas, which is in northeast
Texas, small town. But it was just like, okay, I saw him working so hard. And I am the youngest
of three siblings. I have two older brothers and I watched my brothers have, you know,
not necessarily pick of the litter. We wouldn't call it that. We would call it like, hey, this
vehicle runs. So therefore you can drive it when you want, but just know it's going to be a work
truck. Like it's a work truck during the week. And maybe on the weekends, you can drive it.
And slowly over time, my dad would say, okay, you know, you can officially, like you've
proven yourself, you have a wreck this fully, you can drive this full time. So that's kind
of what happened for my brothers. But then whenever it got to be my turn, he was like,
oh, we don't really have anything kind of in the rotation that him or his workers were using.
And so I had the luxury, the privilege of getting what was a doodoo brown. This is
what I tell my kids when they ask me, tell us about your first car. I'm like, it was doodoo
brown plumbing truck that was a single cab. I still don't even really know what exact year it
was, but I just remember it was a bench seat. I had a bench seat. Again, we're in Texas,
no AC. There was absolutely no air conditioning whatsoever. It was manual windows for any, like,
of course my kids these days, they were like, what? You like cranked them down. Yes, it was a hand
cranked window. It was nothing automatic about this. None, none. It was, it was automatic,
right? So it wasn't a stick shift. I still don't know how to drive a stick shift. So, you know,
I'm going to disappoint a lot of the car fanatics out there. No, no, no. But it also, it didn't have
a rear view mirror, which again, I don't know how it passed any inspections. It only had one
side mirror and it had a big crack in the windshield. And to get the windshield wipers
to work, there was like electrical tape on the box under the hood. So I would have to
pop the hood, like move that around and jiggle it a little bit to get the windshield wipers to work,
which is the last thing you want to do in a rainstorm anyway. So yeah, that's, I mean, that's
overview of my first vehicle and it cost $1,000. I do remember my dad saying that. He's like,
this was $1,000. You're welcome. Here you go. And he gave it to you.
Yes, he gave it to me, but I did forget. And Doug reminded me of this before we started
recording. The best part about the whole thing was before he handed it down to me,
he did not take off the large Blair plumbing insignia on the driver's side door. And I think it was on
the passenger side too. So as soon as he said, here's the keys, this is your vehicle. I went
to the store and, you know, some auto parts store got some goo gone and immediately started
scraping it off and you could, I mean, you could still see it, let's just be honest. So I drove
around town with a plumbing truck and I was very grateful to have wills. And it was cool at high
school, right? Yeah, sure. Sure. Sure. Well, probably a lot of trucks in Texas at high schools.
I know there are a lot of trucks in Texas for sure. Yes.
And down here in Florida too. So what happened to that? So what happened to that truck? How long
did you have that truck? That's a good question. And I couldn't remember if I had it for two years
or about a year and a half, probably about a year and a half. And then I got upgraded. So
while I had the doodoo brown truck, my middle brother had inherited the next truck. It was an F350
which we called her the big beast because that's exactly what she was. The big truck.
She was the big mama truck. She was very big. So while he had that, I was drooling over it.
I was like, look at this. She's so pretty and look at how many. I was not a great driver.
So I was looking at all the curbs I could hit and the less damage I would do in this monster
truck because that's what it was basically an 18-wheeler. That's what I was thinking. When I was
driving this and I like lifted the steering wheel all the way up, I felt like I was in.
Driving some sort of train. Yes. Yes, because I'm pretty tall. I mean, I'm five seven-ish
and I loved that I still had to get on the step bar to get into this vehicle. I was like,
I'm literally driving a monster truck. And then be careful not to fall out, right?
Yes. Yes, exactly. Exactly. So that was while my brother was driving that, I was just salivating
over like, oh my gosh, I cannot wait to get this truck. And then eventually one day,
I don't even remember how the exchange went other than my brother inherited the next truck.
When he went off to college and whenever he got the newer, I think it was a newer F 350. Again,
we were obsessed with these monster trucks, which for gas mileage purposes, made no sense.
Poor father. But it was affordable, I guess, for my dad just to write it off and hand it down
to his kids. Yeah. But yeah, but my brother inherited the other truck. So I inherited his
and I, I love that vehicle. But for a 16, 17 year old to park in a high school parking lot,
I mean, I just had to just take my chances in the farthest I could go because I was so terrified.
I was going to take out like four other vehicles trying to park anywhere close to the school. So
I just, if I went to anywhere, any stores, I was like, no, I'm just gonna park way out here
where I won't damage any other vehicles. I like how your father's fleet, your father's
business fleet, I can just see all these, you know, small business person with these trucks
lined up and then, you know, one gets bumped to the bottom of the depth chart and it just
starts this cascade through the brother and sisterhood and it just kind of makes its way
through you to you. I love that. That's great. Sorry, Doug, you were going to say
something. No, it's funny. We're, you know, think about things that spark memories. This
is a recent one, but I was at a monster truck show a couple weeks ago with my son and it was
so much fun and just, it's funny, my 83 year old mother who's still driving, she drives pretty well
but not at night. We don't want her to. She's like, I can't stand these monster trucks.
You know, just any truck going down the road because they're so big and so high and everybody likes
to deck them out and not like, mom, you should have come to the monster truck jam with me.
She would, yeah. Oh, she would love it. Well, mom is very, your mom's very petite
and in her petite little Honda too. It's a Honda, right? So, I mean, all these things are just
so much physically higher, you know, when I get into, you know, a sedan, you're down here
and then an SUV, you're here and you're in one of these F 150, 250, 350s. It's another thing.
But if you're crystal, you're up here. I'm above everybody else, but the fun thing was,
and it's funny because like you said, it's going to spark a bunch of memories. I remember
I liked being the friend that like everyone wanted to ride with too because I had the most
room. I mean, I had somebody, I had a friend that had an eclipse. I mean,
I don't remember what year that was. Like she had this little bitty, it was like a two door.
I don't even know what model that was. Yes, that's what it was. It was an eclipse and she
was like, oh, I can fit one other person whenever we're driving back to work to practice or going
to school. And I was like, I'm too tall. I can't get in the back back of this without my knees
being in my chest. And so when people would say, oh, you know, we're all just going to go and
crystal's car, I was like, okay, great. Because it was it was a lot of fun to have that. And I
remember this was like, you know, way back in the day, let's get real fancy for all the young
ones listening. It was that truck, because my previous one, the do do brown one, the very
first one, didn't even have a tape deck. So I couldn't at that point in the 90s and early
2000s, you know, the thing, the cool thing was, you put the tape in that connected to your CD player,
external high tech. Yeah. And you put it in there. And so my first vehicle didn't have that. But my
second one, the big mama truck, the big, I don't remember if we called her the big beast or
big Bertha, it was something big, but she did. So we could listen to our tunes in there.
It didn't have a CD player. It wasn't that fancy, but we had the tape.
It's a work truck. It's a where these guys are fixing things with their hands. They're not like
rocking out from job to job. They're sweating and kicking. Plus the music is distracting, right?
Music is definitely distracting. Yeah, it's a good distraction. Yeah. So what happened to do you
remember what happened to that Big Bertha? The F 350 or were you on to more reasonable, less
gigantic automobiles? So after that, I did have a F 150 after that. And that was because we were
getting into the practicality of me going to college and I was going to be about four, four
and a half hours away from home. So I guess, I guess the fuel prices were too high that my
parents were finally like, Hey, let's consider something a little more economical. Yeah. Still
a truck. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So my freshman year or it was my senior year of high school and
into my freshman year. Actually, no, I take that back. It was just my senior year of college. So
I had three trucks all through high school. My last one was an F 150. And I'm so embarrassed to
say this because now I'm like, Oh my gosh, like the things that we did when we were 18. But
the cool thing to do then speaking of music is I installed with my own money. Because again, the
entrepreneur, my dad was like, I will absolutely not buy that for you, but you can pay for that
yourself. I saved up my money for my birthday, Christmas, everything. And I got a CD player
and a subwoofer. Nice. Now, just looking back, it's one of those things that's like,
really, really, we did, we did that. We did that. Oh, that was an accomplishment. But
see, that was an accomplishment. Now to a generation that has a trillion songs in your
pocket, that's no big deal. But to get inside of your two ton jukebox, it meant a lot. I remember
in my Buick Skyhawk in high school, I have not thought about this in so long, but I guess
was a junior or senior. And I don't know if I worked for them. Where did the money come
from? Maybe I robbed a bank. I don't know at that age, but I had the nicest deck.
Tape deck? Yeah, it must have been a tape deck. And it completely transformed the experience
of just hauling people around. And now it was just a party everywhere we went.
Right. And you become more popular, kind of like how Crystal said. And Crystal,
did you install the stereo yourself? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That's that's one of those things that
was like, we had limited means in my small town. So I was like, oh, I'm going to go to the big city.
I'm air quoting big city like 30 minutes away, because they have a specialty store that can,
you know, you can purchase, install, do everything in just a few hours. So that's
that was the route that I chose. Okay, nothing wrong with that.
So now as we move forward, are we about ready to talk about the Swiss army knife of automobiles,
the Honda Odyssey dog? Or did we need to inject something else in here? Yeah, I think
talk about Crystal's current car, right? Yes. The family. Let's talk about it. I want to hear
all the great things about your Odyssey. And then I'll say all the great things about my
Odyssey. Go ahead, we'll get out on the Odyssey. So my black, she I love her. She is my black beauty.
And this is what we call her we've had her she's a 2014. And we she was new to us in 2016. So she
had like 30,000, maybe 35,000 miles today in 2025, she's got 140, we just hit 140,000.
And I mean, I've never had never had a Honda before this, we had, as you heard, multiple
Fords, I had two Ford explorers before that too. And I just we were Ford family, that's what
we're going to drive. And then we I kind of mentioned this earlier, but we haven't talked much.
I have three kids. So ages now today, they're 1512 and nine. And so I needed a practical car,
I need a practical mom car. And it has just been the best vehicle for road trips. Because we
drive we live in Houston, but we have family in the Dallas Fort Worth area and in Austin and
in West Texas. So I mean, sometimes we're a road trip is seven hours for us. And we are able to do
it comfortably with all of our stuff in this vehicle. So that's the trick. We keep talking
about my husband and I were like, should we sell it? Should we get another one? It's like,
yeah, maybe one day, like she's got a crack in the windshield at the top, but it's above like
everything. I don't even care. Like she's got some stripped paint on the side. Like, I mean,
I don't care. I love her. She's ragged and she's, you know, we call it battle scars.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Does yours have the lazy Susan down below? Or did they retire that in
in the newer models? Yeah. Oh, I had a two in 2004 or five. And right behind the driver and passenger,
but before kind of the captain seat, there was this kind of secret compartment where you'd rip
up the floor. And there was a, I'm not kidding. It was kind of the circular thing. Maybe it was
two and a half feet in diameter, something like this. It was underneath the car,
but you could sort of spin it to get it different compartments inside of there.
It was a lazy Susan inside of Odyssey. And yeah, like you're saying, it's just a total Swiss army
knife. I remember when I got it with my former wife, I said, well, why do we need a car like
this? You know, the family was growing, ended up with three boys, but it was just to be able
to have enough space to like you're saying, it's not only the people, it's the stuff. So I could fit
25 bags of mulch in my whole family. And once you got, you know, I could fit when I was redoing
a kitchen, I could just shove cabinet and take out all the seats and just shove a bunch of
cabinets in there. You know, and I was like, Oh, wow, I get it. I get it. And for a while,
you had dueling minivans, didn't you? You both had Honda Odyssey's. I think for a time we did.
I don't know how or why that happened. But yeah, you loved it. I did. Just a great car, great car.
Yeah, I've had a few Hondas, a few Hondas in my day. I still have a beat up old Acura in the
park in the, I was texting with my son. Got a new car last night. And I was texting with him.
And he said, do you still have that Acura? You kept the Acura. I said, yeah, he said,
my money's on the Acura. My money's on that thing just outlasting everything you got.
But yeah, it's the backup plan. It's always, yeah, it just won't stop. It won't stop, won't
die in, hey, you know, just sticking around is so much of success in life, isn't it?
Yes, it really is. It really is. So let's see, as we sort of guide the
podcast here to the off-ramp, did we have anything else we wanted to discuss, Doug,
before we talked a little bit and had kind of a lightning critique of our podcast here from the
Jedi, the guru herself? Well, I just put Crystal on the spot and we did beforehand. What is your
dream car or cars? What's going to replace Black Beauty? Okay, so we have been looking at
pilots. We've been looking at Honda pilots for a while and it was a cousin of mine that got the newer,
like, whenever the body, because you know, the bodies had several iterations over the last 10
years, I would say. It's gone through several, you know, it's like square and then round and
square and then like it just, it's always looked appealing to me. And then recently,
I think it was like the 24 body style we really liked. And then just the other day,
we're walking our youngest son to the bus stop and we saw Akia and I was like, what is that?
Because I saw it has sliding doors. I was like, is this Akia minivan? This is gorgeous. And I
am not like someone to stop. Like, I just don't really look at cars that much where I'm like,
oh, that's great. Unless it's something that we've talked about like, oh, we should,
you know, explore looking at that. But I cannot for the life of me remember what it was, but it's
the Kia minivan. And I think it's a newer model that they just came out with. I'm like, I would
go to, I would go look at that. I would absolutely go and look and see if it rivals,
because it was a little bit shorter than the Odyssey, but it looked like it had
a lot of really cool features that were on it. So yeah, it's the Kia Carnival.
Yeah, go ahead. It's the it's the Kia Carnival. One of my neighbors has one. And the nice thing,
maybe this is what you liked about it. It doesn't look like a minivan. The doors blend in very
well. Like you wouldn't think it's a SUV if you didn't have to look twice. Yeah. And I think
that's why I caught my eyes because I was like, wait, those doors slide. Like what am I looking at?
What's happening here? And it was a few neighbors down, they have they have several kids and I
was like, okay, so this is practical. It's practical. So if we're talking about practical,
practical dreams, then something like that, if we're talking about irrational and like just
like, what would you do? You want a million dollars tomorrow? Like what kind of car are
you going to buy? I have always loved the Porsche Cayenne's and watching them, which is funny because
I'm not someone that really likes to go fast. But also, I kind of want to just go fast in that car
just to see what happens. So that would be like, if if money wasn't an option, I could buy something
tomorrow, that would be the one that I think I at least want to test drive. Like let's let's
see what this is all about. Yeah, my one of our previous guests, Dora, who lives in Austin,
she she bought a Cayenne and I think she bought the V8 turbo. She drives like a maniac per actually
we had Chris Oliver on who's a friend of hers and he on another episode and he's like, yeah,
she drives faster than anybody I've ever met. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So yeah, be careful with that.
Be careful with that. So yeah, so again, Crystal has just been been after hearing so many wonderful
things about you over the past several months. It's thank you for taking the time. And before
we let you go here, just remind everybody to check out Crystal's presence is crystalprofit.com,
crystal with a K profit with two Fs and I and two T's.com. And basically her podcast consulting
business has really allowed us to elevate or raise our game. So if this is something that
you're into, please check her out and and reach out very accessible. She's a podcast coach
who helps strategize around content which helped us out a lot because creating content is really
key in what it's all about. So Crystal, if you could, I'm going to put you on the spot here.
If you could give us one thing that podcasts do well and then one thing podcasts don't do well
and then if we could make it more local here, what's one thing our podcast is doing well and
could improve upon? What do you think? Yeah. I love all these questions and now we're like,
we're in my creative zone of genius. So this is exciting. I think that, you know, for anybody
that's listening that's interested in podcasting or if it's been something on your mind and you
want to know kind of behind the scenes. Listen, I've talked to thousands of podcasters. I've been
doing this since 2018. We were talking earlier like I've done over 1400 episodes myself. I've
interviewed hundreds of podcasters. So like this is literally what I eat, sleep and breathe.
And I think that the thing that most podcasters struggle with is just keep going. Just finding
the ability to keep showing up no matter, you know, if you get sick with the flu or, you know,
like something else chaotic and crazy and your business is going weird or your
day job is super hard. Like finding systems and processes that allow you to keep showing up
has been the frustration, but also the key to just keep going is finding that balance of what
that could look like for you. I think a big area for improvement for a lot of people is they
focus so much on either the aesthetic or the quality of their audio, which is important.
You should focus on that, but they don't spend as much time on the content or the strategy
or how their podcast can play a bigger role in their business or in monetization. And
that's the piece that I would encourage people to explore a lot sooner, because I think that
a lot of people have it in their mind that until I get a million downloads, I can't do
anything. And I'm like, that's not true. It's not true at all. You can do so much
with your podcast. And this is actually where I'm going to give a shout out to Doug, you
know, for all the all the implementation that he's done in showing up in our community and just
learning and being very receptive to advice and suggestions and recommendations. Because I think
that that's something you all are doing really well, even at the beginning of your show is
having, you know, just advice on what we could do better, what can we incorporate and
what are the next steps. And I think that the thing that you are already working on, I mean,
we just kind of breezed over this, but from an outsider's perspective, like you're having
someone from Mazda come on your show really soon. Like that's exciting. Like that's really,
so I encourage you to celebrate those wins along the way, because they will keep coming
if you just keep showing up. And so find a way as a team or even as a community to celebrate
with your audience too. Because I think that a lot of people create in a vacuum where they're
like, I'm just talking to my audience, like we're just talking at you, talking at you, talking at
you. But the moment you really ramp up that audience engagement, which again, I think y'all are
doing an incredible job. You're reading reviews, you're giving people shout outs in the show,
you're saying, you know, friend of the pod, you know, and you're calling people out by name,
that really makes a big difference. So as much as you can, engaging with your folks in your
audience, because they're going to be the ones that tell you, Hey, this is the content we
want to hear more of, or y'all haven't covered this before. And can you, can you talk about this?
Or I have a great guest suggestion, or even I would love to come on the show. Like can we chat
about my story? The more you just really lean into your audience and listen to your people,
they're going to tell you what they want to hear. And that's going to be the key to really
unlocking those next levels of success in your show. Great answer. Great answer. And one
thing that rings so true to me is that you have to keep putting stuff out. I'm one of these people.
I get a paralysis by analysis of the perfect be the enemy of the good, and you can't do that.
You just got to keep shipping. You just got to keep pushing it out the door. Just keep pushing
out the door. And the funny thing is, is that we're light years better than we were at the
beginning. And that's only by showing up. And I'm good at process improvement, but Doug is very
good at it. So it's always, it's that tinker, little bit of tinkering, get a little bit better.
Man, get 1% better. Every show, 1% better. All we got to be is 1% better. We got to be 50%
better. Let's get 1% better this time. So that's beautiful. What do you think about all that,
Doug? I think it's wonderful. No, I think, I feel like we've gotten so much better and
as more polished, I hope. Getting better at editing. We've got a few short videos out.
I'm getting more comfortable being on video and doing things myself a little more.
And you've just been that great, stable. I remember we were a couple of weeks in,
and I'm like, why aren't we getting downloads like so-and-so? Well, they've been doing it longer,
right? They've been at it longer. They have a real name that people know, but we're getting there.
And we'll get there. Yeah, we'll get there. And we've had some great, I think about James,
Andrew, a lot of other people. We've just had such great support. And engaged in recent.
Yep. Recently, James and Caroline from HH Wheels, what a great family and very positive,
very supportive. Yeah, I love that. And I'm so glad that Crystal mentioned polish,
because I took a shower about a month ago and it's made all the difference in the world.
All right, she was Crystal Prophet. Crystal, again, just a total blast hanging out with you.
Thank you for your time, your wisdom. And we look forward to having you back at some point in the
future. Thank you all so much for having me. This was a blast. And like I said, I love sharing these
stories. So thank you for having me on. Thank you. Had a great time. Yeah, go ahead, Doug.
No, no. Thank you, Crystal. Can't thank you enough. I know I put you on the spot
when I asked you to be on it, but you said yes. Too good. Too good. Well, thanks again.
You have just heard the high-reving, low-mileage, late model heard around the world. Yes,
even in Australia. Welcome, welcome podcast on automotive nostalgia. He's Doug. Reach him
at Doug at CarsLove.com. I'm Christian. Reach me at Christian at CarsLove.com.
And she was Crystal, the one and only. Please follow and tell a friend,
write a review if you feel so inclined. Check us out on Linktree, L-I-N-K-T-R dot E-E slash
CarsLove. I am sure we'll see you at the next low-mileage car show, show you great strips of Confort.
We appreciate you listening. We'll see you next time.
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